Plastic Pollution: The Fashion Industry Steps Up

Individuals and businesses are fighting plastic pollution by developing products that can be made from recycled plastic, which would therefore not accumulate in landfills or clog the world’s oceans. According to an article in the Guardian, the fashion industry is now creating designer clothing made from recycled plastic.

One rarely mentioned source of plastic pollution is discarded fishing nets. Nets are made from nylon, one of the first plastics-based products ever created.  It is used as material for everything from nets to women’s stockings. A nongovernmental organization called Healthy Seas recently recovered 4,000 kilograms of nets off the coast of Sicily. The material was sent to a recycling plant in Slovenia where a company called Aquafil spun it into Econyl, a material that is now being used to create high-fashion clothing.  Many metric tons of nets are discarded into the oceans yearly, which could better be saved, recycled, and reused.

Nets are not the only things that are being recovered for recycling and reuse. Moshi Moshi Mind, a Danish fashion house, has rolled out a winter coat made from material created from plastic bottles. The Riley Studio has a line of exercise wear created from Econyl.

Clothing manufacturers are aware that many people consider an environmentally-responsible product to be a great selling point. People like great products, and if they believe such products help the environment, they will more likely purchase them for the social consciousness benefit.

The only negative reaction to the growing trend of recycling plastic, ironically, comes from Greenpeace, an organization seeking to protect the environment. Greenpeace believes that making new products out of old plastic is well and good, but it feels that the ultimate solution is switching from plastic entirely and using more biodegradable materials. Upending industries that depend on plastics may be easier said than done.